Internal combustion engine



E J. HALL. 1,875,444

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE y Filed oct. 27, 1922 2 sheets-sheet 1 Sept. 6, 1932.

/NvENoR EILBERT J. HALL A TTUHNEY Sept. 6, 1932.` E. J HALL N. 1,875,444

INTERNAL `COMEUMION ENGINE L Filed Oct. 27, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 u l M I/ 7/,5 l/vVENOR lf fhg-.5. l /f/Z l :faz ELBERT J. HALL I #ff/ am,

Patented Sept. (i, 1932` UNITED STATES PATENTa ori-*ics f ELBERT J. HALL, OF DETROIT, \MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR '.:lO AMERICAN CAB AND FOUNDRY MOTORS COMPANY, `OF.;NEW YORK,KN. Y.,`A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE INTERNAL connUsnoN ENGINE Application led October' 27, 1928. Serial No. 315,517.

rlhe accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form ofthe invention; though 1t 1s to be understood that the invention 1s not limited to the exact details of `construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof within the scope of the claims will occur=to persons skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation `of an internal combustion engine of the marine type, showing the invention applied thereto,.cert.a1n parts being broken away and others being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the en me `shown in Fig. 1 with certain parts bro en away;

Fig. 3 is a sectionalview of the-011 filler Cap;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 aresectional views of the breather cap; and 1 Figs. T and 8 are views showing a modified form of elbow or separator used with the invention.

This invention relates generally to internal combustion engines and has particular reference to means for increasing the speed and power thereof.

One of the main objects of the present in vention is the provision of means operative in accordance with the speed of the engine for feeding air at a pressure above atmospheric to the mixing chamber of a carburetor. n

Another object of the invention is to provide means associated with the `fly wheel of an internal combustion engine for delivering air at a pressure above atmospheric to the mixing chamber of a carburetor whereby to permit the fuel mixture to be delivered under pressure to the intake manifold of an internal combustion engine so as to largely eliminate the possibility of backiring into the carburetor by dissipation due to the pressure of the fuel mixture.

A further object of 'the invention is the provision of means for leading vapors from the crank case of the enginev to the intake manifold and thence into the engine to be burned, whereby to prevent said vapors from circulating through the atmosphere and becoming obnoxious. p

A still further object of theinvention is to provide means for delivering fuel mixture to the cylinders of an internal combustion engine at a pressure above normal so as to increase the speed and power of the engine. Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken with the accompanying drawingsl in which A indicates generally an internal combustion engine of the marine type havinga plurality V.of cylinders; in the instance shown, the engine is a six cylinder one. v v y The cylinder block is shown at` 2, the head at 4, and the removable head cap vis shown at 6, the latter beingdetachably secured to the block by fastenings such as screwbolts 8 or the like. n c

For supplying lubricating oil to the engine, a filling port 10 is provided which is normally closed bya cap 12, hingedly secured to the head cap 6 as at 14, and normally retained incseated position on the filling port by a retaining clampl. The crank case -is indicated at x18., f

The engine shown in the drawings is of the marine type, as heretoforementioned, and includes two separate and distinct intake manifold assemblies, 20 and 22, respectively,

which are preferably jacketed as shown,v

whereby' they may be cooled b water `circulating through the engine and' through the manifolds by conduits 24 leading to and from a reservoir 25. For ciecting uniform pressures in the manifolds,v the latter are connected by a balance tube 26, and the manifolds are connected to carburetors B and C respectively, having discharge conduits 28 and 30 respectively, in which are thethrottle valves controlled for simultaneous actuation by'levers 32 connected to an operating rod `34 `mounted in brackets 36 secured to the cylinder block. The carburetors 4B and C are connected to a common source.` of fuel sup ly, not shown.

arburetors B and C are shown more'or less diagrammatically and the same are provided with mixing chambers 38 and 40 inter- A il' posed between the discharge conduits -28 and 30 and the float chambers 39 and 41 respectively, as more clearly shown in Fig. 2. The drawings show the carburetors as formed of separate parts--but obviously they may be cast in one piece as desired; the drawings being for illustrative purposes only. Secured to the crank shaft (not shown) is a fiy wheel 42 provided with teeth 44 for engagement by an electric starter or the like. In the absence of a starter, lever 46 is provided for rotating the fly wheel in an obvious manner, the same being formed for removable attachment to the crank shaft or fly wheel.

The front face of the fly wheel is provided with radial vanes 48 (see Fig. 2) which function to draw atmospheric air into the fly Y wheel housing` 50 through apertures 52 and 74, respectively.

formed in the housing cover 54. The housing 5() is provided with an opening 56 in the rear thereof, defined by a rearwardly extending casting 58, in the form of a boss, and a couplin 60 is secured to the boss 58 by means of suita le fastenings'such as screw bolts 62.

Secured to the coupling 60 -inany desired manner is a conduit 64, the-latter inclining upwardly and having its opposite end secured within a curved cou ling 66 by means of a setl screw 68 or the li e. The coupling 66 is in effect a separator, as hereinafter described, and is providedwith a baffle 70 which divides the separator into two passages 72 y The separator is further provided with a port 76 which is defined by an upwardly extending flange 78 into which the lower end of a, breather pipe 80 is secured, Lthe latterextending upwardly adjacent the cap 6 and -having a breather 82 secured thereto and in communication with the space 84 within the cap as hereinafter particularly described. The pipe 8O has been termed a breather pipe, but it has a double function. It' functions as a breather pipe and also as an aspirating tube or fitting, the functiony and operation of the tube or pipe 8O being fully described hereinafter.

v The lower end of the separator 66 is secured to the inlet 86 of a distributor 88, the

latter bein'preferably a casting of the form, 1g.V 1, providing oppositely exshown in tending conduits 90 andi 92 connected respectively toV the mixing chambers 38 and 40, heretofore mentioned, as shown at 94 in Fig. 2, whereby to direct air passing through 64, 66 and the conduits 90 and 92 into the mixing chambers to mix with the fuel from the carburetors B and C, respectively. The passages 72 and 74 terminate at the inlet opening of the distributor 88, and said inlet opening provides in effect a mixing chamber '86. It will be apparent that the air from the two passages l7 2 and 74 will be mixed in this chamber 86 and the crank case vapors which may have been drawn through the tube 80 into passage 74 will be thoroughly mixed with the air in said mixin chamber 86, thereby eliminating any possi ility of a non-uniform mixture of air and vapor being delivered to the respective carburetors. The draft induced in the tube 8O by thesuction of the engine draws clean air from the atmosphere unless there is vapor admitted into the fitting 82. If there are crank case vapors in the fitting 82, they are drawn through the tube 80 with the atmospheric air therein and the mixture of atmospheric air and vapor enters the coupling 66 on the side thereof which has the greater radius and where the incoming air through the conduit 64 has the greatest velocity. Since the tube 8() enters the coupling at an angle to the direction in which the air from the conduit 64 is travelling, it will be apparent that there is a suction created in the tube 8O in addition to the suction created by the downward movement of the engine pistons, and the baille or separator serves only to direct a portion of the incoming air from the conduit 64 and also from the tube straight down on the side nearest the carburetor 40, as shown in the example illustrated in the drawings. The air from passages 72 and 74 niingles in the mixing chamber 86 after it leaves the separator 66, and as only one piston is inducing air into the cylinders at any one time, the air passing through the passage 74 and containing vapor from the tube 80 will mingle with the air in the chamber 86 and cause a uniform mixture to be delivered to the oppositely extending arms 88 and 90 of the distributor.

An important feature of this arrangement is that the air is delivered at uniform pressures to each of the extensions of the distiibutor. The air passing through the conduit 72 has a shorter path to travel and its velocity would normally be reduced by the sharpness of the curve in its path. While the curve in the conduit 74 is more gradual, it accordingly forms less resistance to the passage of air. This would normally result inthe building up of a higher pressure at that partof the mixing chamber 86 which is ad]acent the outlet of the conduit 74 than in that part adjacent the outlet of the conduit 72. Such a condition would result in the air being delivered more freely to the branch than to the branch 88, because the higher velocity at the right side of the mixing chamber 86 would cause a clockwise pivoting action about the slower moving por-,- tion of air at the left side of the conduit 86. In order to at least partially counteract the f of the air in this column is dissipated in ejecting air and crank c ase vapors from the confil) duit 80. By

90and92. v

Fig. 1 shows a portion of the engine broken away to disclose the 'interior of thecrank properly ealibrating the size and positioiro Frein the above'it will be seen that the chamber 86 serves notonly as a mixing chamber for the air and crank' ycase va ors, but it serves the more important function of formingan inlet capable `of deliveringair at the rsame velocity `and pressure to each of the carburetors. y y It will be obvious from the above description that the conduit is acted ,on bythat portion of the incoming air which is at the highv est velocity, that is,if lthe conduit 80 ywas wardly as at 95 substantially' o posite the lower end of the baile to provi e o positely extending curved vvdetlecting sur aces 96 and 98 for distributing the air entering the casting substantially equally to the` conduits case, cylinder block and the head. A timing chain is indicated at 100, the latter being mounted on the gears 102`and 104;'ge'ar 102 being arranged in kthe cylinder head and mounted on a suitable shaft journaled ,on a closure cap` 106 adjustably secured to the head 4 by means of the bolts 107 which work in suitable slots formed in the cap 106 whereby to provide a means foradju'stment'of the cap to afford a means for adjusting the timing4 chain. Just adjacent the upper edgecf the 'cylinder block thereis provlded an 1nwardly extending shelf 108 which, when the f cylinder head is removed, is adapted to support the gear 102. To remove the head102, the closure 106v is first removed from the head, which freesthe shaft to which gear 102 is secured, thereby permitting the gear to be lowered to the shelf 108 by which it is supported, thus avoiding'the necessity of completely removing the gea-r 102 andthe chain 100 when the cylinder head is removed.

This end of the engine provides a passage from the crank case 18fto the interior of the cap G for the passage of vapors `from the crank case, as will be apparent, and the shelf 108 acts asa baffle to largely Aprevent the passage yof oil which may be entrained in said vapors'into the space 8,4.

The oil filler cap 12`is provided with an opening 110 which permits the admission of atmospheric air into the space 8,4 where it mixes with the crank case vapors, and the mixture of air and vapors are led into the the discharge of conduit `80k into theconduit 74 the velocity of the air in this conduit ycan befsubstantially equalized with .the vohune of air in the conduit 72.v

` spective carburetor-s.

.breather 82 during the nornialbreathing actioncf'the engine.

The ,breatheris preferably of the form 'shown lin detail in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, and com-y prises a tubular body portion 112 Vinto which the upper end of )ipe extends; the end of' the body portion eing -provided-with aninternal annular recess 111 formingl a supportbreather. A

f 4The upper end of the body-portionis lformed with an attaching face 118 provided with an opening 1120 so varranged as to ,lie adjacent a corresponding opening formedl in the cap 6, and internallyfof the upper end of the bodyportion`112ther`e is irovided an upright balie 122, the upper endl of which is horizontally arranged or flangedzas at 124 to provide, in effect, a mixing chamber 126 for the incoming air and crank case vapors. The breather is provided with a head 128 having slots 130 by which additional air is admitted tothe mixedfair and 'crank case-vapors, the

mixture being'adapted vto'be drawn' down through the pipe 80, as hereinafter described.

' As air is forced through the conduit Gland through the coupling 66, it will'bev apparent that an aspirating effect is created through thepipe 80 which will serve to draw atmospheric air through the breather; the air passing from 130 through 112 and then into the ypipe 80. Through one portion of the fitting 82 the crank case vapors pulsate back and forth due to the normal operation of the engine, ina manner well understood in the art. There is a draft in proportion to the speed of the'engine passing through the tube 80 and this draft is always in one direction. In order to prevent the escape of the crank case vapors to the atmosphere, the breather or fitting 82 has been vso designed that these crank case Vvapors will be drawn through .chamber 120 into rart 112 of the fitting and kpulsating throughthe opening 120 the suction through the'tube `80 will draw clean air throughthe port'lSO and admit itto the revapors pulsating y through the opening l120 the vapors will be drawn into the tube 80, as just mentioned. From this it will be apparent that the elements 80 andr 82 have a double function and that the crank easevapors are prevented from escaping to the atmosphere.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a modified form of separator in which a pipe 132 is shown cast as a part of the separator; the inlet end of .said pipe'beingarranged in the upper portion of the intake end ofthe separator, and the outlet end being arranged so as to discharge into the conduit 90. Attention is called to the fact thatthe diameter of the pipe 132, especially ioo l,114s However, 1f there are at its inlet end is approximately one halt` of the. area of the upper half of the intake end ofthe separator, whereby to provide a con struction and arrangement of parts in which substantially equal vamounts of air are discharged into the separator.

It is believed that from the above descrip: i

tionthe operation of the device will be fully apparentto those skilled in the art to which it appertains;'but a. short resum of the operation is herein set forth.

With the parts 'assembled as shown clearly in Fig. l,\when the engine is started the rotation of the fly wheel will cause the vanes and is directed downwardly in substantially 48 to draw atmospheric air through the open-Y ings 52 into the housing, from where it passes, due to the rotation of the fly wheel and also because of the normal suction of the engine, through the conduit 64 to the upper end thereof where it is separated by the bafile TO equal amounts into the distributor and thence the air passes through the conduits 90 and 92 to the mixing chambers 38 and 40 where it is mixed with the fuel from the carburetors and delivered into the manifolds and into the engine cylinders to be burned. It will be obvious thatl during the operation just described the crank ca'sevapors will -be drawn down- 'wardly through the pipe S() by virtually a siphonic action into the passage 74, from e where they pass into the distributor and are burned.y Due to the blower action of the fly '\vheel, it will be apparent that the incoming air is 'above atmospheric pressure and is mixed with the fuel at such pressure, and the resultant fuel mixture is carried upwardly finto the manifolds'and into thcengine at the valves 134 shown in Fig. 2, at a speed above normal.

It will be obvious that in the conduit 64 the air will be denser or heavier at the upper portion of the upper end; and to effect a substantially equal distribution of air to each and the pressure depends, of course, largely upon the construction and'arrangement of the vanes 48, and it is to be understood that ,this invention contemplates not only the speeific arrangement and construction of vanes such as shown and described vin the drawings, but also con'iprehends the idea of providing a fly Wheel which may have vanes arranged in such ai manner as to produce any desired pressure lof air in the conduit 64. This depends largely upon Conditions re- V.quired or desired. In any event, the pressure of the air being above atmospheric will serve to dissipate the flame of a backfire from the engine before it reaches the atmosphere and thus greatly reduce and eliminate the possibility of fire dueto such a backfire.

During the operation of an engine, more particularly an engine of the type described and shown, when initially starting the cngine a premature ignition of the fuel n1ix.

ture sometimes occurs. This is dangerous in that sometimes the flame from such premature ignition will pass entirely through the manifolds and carburetors to the atmosphere and set fire to the boat. lVith the device of the present invention, the fire hazard is appreciably reduced inthat, due to the housingand the` housing covcr,'and also the conduit leading to the carburetors, a cushion of air is provided between the atmosphere and the engine into whiclrthe flame from a premature ignition is projected; and due to the fact that the housing contains-the fly wheel or blower, and 'further that the housing is provided with a cover, the egress of air from theconduit is retarded to such an extent. that the air cushion serves to dissipate the flame from such premature ignition and thus prevent the flame from reaching the atmosphere.

It. will further be apparent that should the flame reach the fly wheel housing the fly wheel therein and the housing itself being cool, will reduce the temperature to such an extent as to prevent the egress of the flame to the atmosphere. In addition, it can be seen that the tortuous path` which the premature ignition must take in reaching the atmosphere is formed by thexeondut as well as the fly wheel itself and the latter will serve to effectually and completely break up the premature ignition or the flame therefrom. c v

During normal operation of the engine a backfire may occur, as is well known, and if such an occurrence takes place the device of the present invention provides an incoming stream of air which is at a. pressure above atmospheric and into which the backfire is projected, and it will be apparent that this incoming stream of air will be sufficient to dissipate the backfire; but even should the stream of air not be sufiicient, the backfire vwill be completely broken up by the fly wheel itself in an obvious manner.

What I claim is:

l. In an internal combustion engine, a plurality of carhuretors. and means for introducing air under pressure above atmospheric to the carburetors whereby to deliver fuel mixture to the engine at a pressure above atmospheric coniprising a distributor connecting said carburetor-s and provided with a common inlet substantially niidwa)1 ofthe ends thereof. a conduit, a blower mounted on and actuated by the crank shaft for deliveriso ing air under pressure to the conduit, a sepa-ky i'ator connecting the conduit and distributor, means in said separator for dividing the air injected therein from the conduit to provide a uniform discharge thereof int-o the coininon inlet of the distributor, the latter having oppositely extending deflccting surfaces arranged substantially opposite the areas dclined by said dividing ineanswliei'eby substantially equal amounts of air are delivered to each arburctor, and means for balancing the pressure of the fuel mixtures delivered -froin the carburetors.

2. In an internal eon'ibustion engine, a plurality of carburetors, a distributor eoiiuecting said carburetors, a conduit, a blower actuated by the crank shaft for connecting the conduit and distributor, and means for leading the crank case vapors to the engine to be burned comprising an as-y piratiiig pipe connected to the-coupling, a breather secured tothe upper end ot' the pipe, said breather being in communication with the space above the cylinder head of the engine to receive erank case vapors therefrom and said breather having a portion open to the atmosphere to receive air, and a battle in the coupling for dividing the incoming air lsubstantiallyv equally.

3,. In an internal combustion engine, a pluralitv ot' carburetors, a distributor connect-`l pheric. a coupling connecting the conduit andv distributor at the common inlet, means in the coupling for dividing the air injected therein from the conduit to provide a uni t'orm discharge of air through the conunon inlet to be separated by the before-mentioned defleeting surfaces, a pipe and a breather receiving crank case vapors to be drawn into the pipe by t-lie air passing through the coupling whereby said vapors may be led to the engine to be burned.

4. The combination of an engine provided with a crank case and a plurality of carbuietors, an air supply conduit for the carbu.- retors, a conduit for leading crank case vapors to said air supplyv conduit. and nieans in the air supply conduit adjacent the junction of said conduits for separating the air to direct substantially equal amounts to each carburetor.

5. In con'ibination with an internal coinbustion engine provided with a crank case and a plurality of carburctors` an air supply conduit for the carburetors, a conduit for leading crank case vapors to the air supply conduit, and air separating means in said air delivering air under pressure to the conduit, a coupling vduit att-he connected to the coupling, y

through the conduit.

supply conduit at substantially the junction of the conduits for reducing -tlieinormal increase in` the amountV oflcrank `case vapors drawn from the crank case andfor separatingthe air inthe air supply conduit whereby `substantially equal amounts are di'rectedfto the respective. carhuretors, and for preventingaspiration by the vapor conduit. l

6. In combination with an internal comthekfull c'oluniiiot` air from bustion engine provided with aI crankcasc and a plurality of carburetors, an air supply conduit for ,the carburetors, means for orcing air through the conduit at a pressure above atmosphericand variable in accordance with 4the engine speed,'an aspirating tube connected with the conduit and through Which'crank case vapors are drawn by the incoming Aair through the conduit, and'means in the "cony junction of the l'aspiratin'g vtube therewith tok separatethe air whereby substantially equal ainountsare supplied to the respective carburetors .andafor reducing the aspirating effect of ,tlieifull :current `of air; vthrough the/conduit.`

1. Iireonibination with-an internal l/coinb ustion engine lprovided with acrank case and a. yplurality otk carburetors, aniain air supply conduit.for the carburetors, means for forcing kairthrough said vair supply conduit `at a-.pressurefaboveatmospheric and variable in accordance with the engine speed,

"an aspirating tube connected withthe conduit for. receiving crank case vapors,aisup pleinentary air iiiletfor conveying airv to the aspirating tube to mix with the-.crank case vapors, the incoming air through the main air supply conduit serving to, draw t-lie vadditionalvoair and crank case vapors through the aspirating tube, and means iii the air supply conduit at the junction of the` aspirating tube therewith to separate the air from the Vmain air supply` conduit wherebysubstant'ially equal amounts thereof are supliedto the `respective carburetor-s -andfor reducing the aspirating etect of thefull current of air SjIn an.y internal combustion engine tributor having a centrally disposed inl a pair ofoppositelyv disposed branches, a supply conduit leading to said inlet, an elbowin said conduit, a longitudinally extending batile dividing the. passageway a dis-' et and f through said elbow into inner and outer parts and nicans for restricting the How throughy the outer part to such an extent as to cause the fluid to be discharged from each of said parts at substantiallyequal velocities.

9. In an internal combustion engine, a distributor having an inlet and a pair of oppositelyextending branches. a conduit for supplying air to said distributor.- an elbow in said conduit, a longitudinally extending battle dividing the passageway through said elbow into inner and outer portions, and a.

conduit leading from a chamber of said engine and connected to the outer. portion of said passageway.

1Q. In aninternal combustion enginehaving-'aplurality of cylinder inlets, a plurality of carburetor-s, means for introducing fuel mixture to the engine cylinder'at a pressure ,greater than normal comprising a distributor havingoppositely extending arms connected m to the earburetors, a blower secured to and actuated by the engine crank shaft, a, conduit receiving air underfpressure from the blower, means connecting the conduit and distributor for directing air under pressure 35 to the latter,'means in said directing means for separating the air into a pair of streams, said directing means forming a longer path for the travel of one of said streams and a shorter path for the travel of the'other of said 20 parts, and. means for introducing additional air to one-ofsaid parts, whereby said parts 4will-be delivered to the inlet of said distribu-Y tor at substantially equal pressure.

k11..In ran .internal eoxiibustion engine, a. g5 plui'alityof,earburetors, and' a supercharger comprising a distributorhaving oppositely extending arms connected to the carburetors, -a ly-wheel'mounted on the crankshaft and vactuated thereby, a conduit, means formed with said iyQwheel fordirecting air from the atmosphere to the conduit, and elbow coupling connecting the'distributor and conduit, means insaid coupling for dividing they air therei'into two streams, saidv dividing means normally tending to cause one of said f Streams to iow at a higher pressure than the other of said streams, and a passagewayv for delivering air at substantially atmospheric` pressure to one of said streams, whereby the 40 discharge pressures and 'volume of the'two streams are balanced.

12. Inan internal combustion engine, a housing, a pair of carburetors, a conduit f'or supplying vair to said carburetors, a bend in said conduit,a` longitudinally extending baffle separating the passageway through said bend into i'nuer and out-er portions, and a. Conduit having an air inlet in said housing and an outlet discharging into said outer portion.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand. l p

ELBERT y J. HALL. 

